Breastfeeding is a deeply personal experience and, for many women, not one that always comes easily.
It’s a relationship of sacrifice — if that baby won’t take a bottle, it’s you and you alone responsible for ’round the clock feeds — but also one with great rewards.
So when the time comes to give up the breast, a lot of mums find themselves feeling very emotional. I know I did.
But a new trend known as a ‘weaning ceremony’ is helping mums to come to terms with the end of their nursing journey and celebrate the relationship they have shared with their babies.
Weaning ceremonies are not a common tradition in Australia, but that’s not the case in other countries.
Watch: Those Two Girls take a tongue-in-cheek look at the uses of breast milk. (Post continues after video.)
The Leaky Boob website (great name, guys) explored the idea of weaning ceremonies. It says the celebration can be tailored to each mother and child and can involve the baby, or be more of a private means of marking the end of breastfeeding for the mother.
Some mothers hold a special event to commemorate the ‘last feed’ to assist them in mentally preparing for the end of nursing.
There are no set rules when it comes to how a weaning ceremony should go.
Jessica, who shared her story with The Leaky Boob, chose to mark the end of her breastfeeding relationship with her baby by holding a ceremony with her husband and her other children. She lit a candle during her baby’s last feed while the family read her letters which they had written prior to the event.
At the end of the feed, the candle was blown out, symbolising the end of nursing.
Image: iStock
Your weaning ceremony doesn't need to be the same. It can be a private affair where you write a letter to your child, write the story of your breastfeeding journey, give yourself or your baby a gift to remember your time as a nursing partnership (you can actually get jewellery made out of breastmilk if you really want to), or you could choose to take your baby on a special date to commemorate your feeding and celebrate the new chapter of their lives.
Whatever you choose to do for your weaning ceremony, the premise is still the same. The idea is that you take the time to celebrate what you have achieved as a breastfeeding mother and close the chapter of that time.
For a lot of mothers, this can be upsetting (so too for the babies attached to their feeding routine) and it's important to respect the emotional rollercoaster associated with weaning your baby.
Top Comments
I myself am expecting my first in a few months, and I do understand breastfeeding and even bottle feeding your baby is very special at the time, however if my mother had presented me during my life (a child or teen or now) with a letter from her or the story of 'our' breastfeeding journey, or given me a gift to remember 'our time as a nursing partnership' I'd have been extremely uncomfortable, it'd just feel a bit inappropriate. I'd think taking a photo at some point during the infant phase, and maybe the mother could have her own personal diary entries to read back on, perhaps gratitude for what her body could do. But I don't think it's something to be shared by wider family or the child themselves. Simply recognise that it's a new chapter for you both, and remember the old one fondly, that sounds healthy and normal to me.